Aria Aatrom
by LSDoneal
Summary: Aria Aatrom A sixteen year old girl, what the world had hought was nothing but average. That’s because of the secret past she has all but forgotten.
1. Prologue backstory

Aria Aatrom was born to a happy family in Star City, USA. She was born to a very rich family that was worth millions. Her dad was a successful businessman and her mom was a powerful political figure. When aria was 6 her parents walked her to school and told her that they'd come back and pick her up at noon. Aria had lots of fun and seemed to have been making friends really quickly. She was really exited to see her parents. She never had been away from them for so long. The clock struck noon and her parents hadn't walked through the door to the classroom. Time began to pass first minutes then hours. The time had been 6:34 pm when a man Burst through the door. He looked frightened and frantic. The man turns to the aria and yells

"hide"!

Before he could finish his head exploded in to an array of blood and flesh. A bullet hits the wall behind him. Aria screamed and hid in the locker to her left. She was barely small enough to fit. She had to be scrunched up with her arms wrapped around her knees. Through the slits in the locker she could see the man, who fired the weapon, walk through the door.

"Where are you girly. I know you're in here."

His voice was raspy and pitchy. It almost sounded like nails on chalkboard. The man started to look around the room until he reached the lockers. He started to shoot each locker one by one. Aria looked out of the slit and saw the gun pointed at her. She squealed.

"Found ya girly"

The mans fingers began to squeeze the trigger. Just before the gun could go off an arrow nocks the gun out of the mans hands towards the right. The gun goes off. Aria felt a warm feeling in her left shoulder. Followed by that feeling was immense pain. She began to panic and jumped out of the locker. Clutching her shoulder.

"Arrow!? Why can't you let me finish my business!?"

"I would say it's none of my business but it kinda is." A man said as he walks in from the doorway.

The mysterious villain started to make a blood curdling scream as his face starts to morph in to something not of this world. Aria being as overwhelmed as she is feints.

She awoke in Green Arrows arms walking away from the school. As they walk out they see the television. The news broadcast stated that two of the cities finest murdered in cold blood. Location of daughter unknown.

"Oh no". Oliver gasped. "I guess you're with me kid."

Years pass and aria is now 16. She had golden blonde hair that was about 3 inches down her passed her shoulders. She had sparkly sky blue eyes. They were so bright you could practically see the twinkle in them. There was a terrible scar on her left shoulder. You could obviously tell what the scar was caused by. With that you could see scars that weren't there before. A few across her back and some on her legs. For the last 11 years she had been training among the Green Arrow. Oliver could never find the man who put a hit on arias family. He kept her under a close eye until recently. He decided to train her starting on her 15th birthday. Mostly because he stumbled upon her in her sleep. He witnessed what he had though was anomaly. The room was well lit with light from the sun coming in the windows. Suddenly he saw the light fade from the room. He noticed it was drawn towards Aria's restless hands. He could tell she was still unconscious. In her hands a large sword shaped object was formed. With her restless hands the sword came towards the coffee table. Then the table was suddenly was cut in two. He quickly woke her up and spoke of training her. He did not mention what he saw.

Now about a month before she moved to California. Oliver mentioned her gift and got a friend to help train her to wield it. She finally had the basics down but Oliver had to send her away due to personal business. He didn't want her to get hurt because of his past actions. Now she's in a new school and has made a lot of new friends. She puts on an act of being super preppy so people don't know how messed up she is.


	2. Fighting fate 1

Okay I may seem like your average teenage girl. Okay maybe a little more than average. Sure I have a lot of friends and I seem to be very like at my new school. They think I'm a peppy prep girl. Little do they know I'm nothing of the sorts. Being the way everyone perceives me makes the burden on my shoulders not feel like it's there. I don't feel alone anymore. I know that surrounding myself with fake friends isn't really healthy for me but right now I don't care. Although I have countless "friends" I have two true ones. They may not know my truest colors but I am certainly much more real with them. One of them, Rory stranheim, is a 15 year old kid who I met in my P:E class. You see I fake being lazy to maintain my popularity. This kid was legitimately lazy. He must weigh two of me. He has dark black hair and is about 5'11". He's always wearing shirts with super hero logos on them, like some kind of super fan. He relates everything to heroes. He's a total dork but I like him. My other friend is basically my right hand "man". Her name was Alicia Hawkins. She honestly is a total bitch. She was a thin brown haired Latina girl with the perfect sized assets. She acted like a total boss. Telling people what to do and when to do it. She seems to be oddly protective of me. Whenever any one accidentally bumps in to me she flips her shit. I don't know what her deal is but I feel like I can trust her a little more then most. I've always been on guard ever since that awful day. We never found the person behind those attacks against my family. I can't ever let them find me. Lying about who I am will help out with that. Yes I have powers but I don't want to use them. I don't ever want to cause a child the same pain I had. My powers are a liability. At least that's what I once thought

One day I was walking home with my friends Alicia and Rory. It was our typical conversation Rory would say something nerdy and Alicia would complain about how nerdy he was. Yet they were so different they couldn't closer. Any way we were walking by the local police precinct, minding our own business. Suddenly a man bursts out of the doors. His hands were cuffed. The man was wearing an orange jumpsuit plastered with blood. You could still make out "x" county jail on the front of the suit. The mans hair was brown but because of all the blood was matted down and much much darker. He was laughing his ass off as he runs up on the three of us.

"Oh looks like I'm about to make a few new friends." The man said

"Okay listen here Chico, there ain't no way we'd wanna be friends with you. So why don't you get you're crazy ass back in the jail cell you belong in". Alicia blurted out as she put her self in front of me.

"You seem to have missed the point, it wasn't a question". Just as the man said this he grasps Alicia picks her up and starts to run off.

"No!" I screamed. As I began to tremble.

I looked over to Rory and he's out cold. He obviously feinted. He probably never expected something would every happen this close to him.

Without a thought in my mind I untied my sweater around from my waist. Using my power I severed a sleeve from it and tied it around my eyes then making eyeholes using my powers once again.

I couldn't let her die. I've seen so much death but never was it anyone I knew let alone someone I cared about. I exploded in a mad dash following them. The man took her in to an ally way. I followed until I hit the corner.

I peeked around the corner to see the man holding a knife against her neck.

"Yo crazy dude why can't you just chill" Alicia spouted out as she began to panic.

"Oh so you like it cold girl?" As he finished his sentence the knife noticeably changed to a dark blue color. A light mist began to fall off of the knife towards the ground.

I knew I didn't have much time to react. I calmed down and focused on the idea of a whip as I begin to emulate the actions of using one. Light began to fade. The ally way became pitch black minus a newly formed whip that was now reaching towards the man. As he started to notice a change he looked and saw the whip reaching towards his face. He ducked just as it snapped over his head. He takes this time to stab Alicia in the kidney. He backs away and turns towards me.

"Okay girl you want to play then let's play". Ice starting to sporadically burst from the mans hands.

I stand there in shock. I've never seen powers with my own eyes before. At least not my own and directed towards me. I didn't know what to do. I was frozen, thinking if this where I die?

Suddenly I felt a whoosh of air go by my head. Then a sudden explosion in front of me on the ice. The blast nocked me back to what I expected to be the ground but it was someone's arms.

"Hey I can't say I dig the getup but I appreciate the effort." I hear behind me

"Olly!?" I shouted. "When did you get here!?"

"What can I say? I was In the neighborhood?" Green arrow said as his pitch started to raise towards the end. He obviously was lying I could tell.

"Okay I need you to grab your friend and get out of here. It looks like saving you is going to always be my business"

I nod run over and grab Alicia. Green arrow is keeping that lunatic busy while I get away. This is the day I had to finally grow up.


	3. Fighting Fate 2

You know I never really planned on using my powers. Let alone to hurt someone else. Here I am sitting in the waiting room impatiently tapping my foot. Why couldn't I have reacted faster? If I could've been faster she might've not been stabbed.

I sit there questioning my decisions as doctors walk past talking about random patients symptoms and all the stuff I don't really care about. I soon passed out waiting for Alicia to get out of the operation room.

I woke up, a few hours later, to a doctor tapping my shoulder saying my friend was stable and available to be seen. I quickly jumped up and followed the man in to the room.

I walked through the door to a high pitched shriek followed by Alicia yelling,"oh chica! I was wondering when you'd come and see me".

"How are you feeling?" I asked with a very concerned look on my face.

"Ehhh, nothing my bestie and chocolate can't handle." She said with a huge smile on her face. "You know someone else was there. She definitely didn't know what she was doing. I could see nothing but pure determination on her face. I mean the part of the face I could see. She had this terrible terrible thing wrapped around her face."

"Wait really?" I questioned. " I wonder where she came from."

"Better yet where did you go Aria?" Alicia asked. She had this stern look on her face. Like maybe she's catching on.

"Wait what happened to your sweater?" As Alicia asked grabbed it from my arm. She started to look at it closely. You could see that it was perfectly severed.

"Oh, I don't know. That psycho must've cut it or something. I didn't even notice." I said trying really hard to not panic. "Well at least you're okay. I think imma go home and get some rest. It's been a little to weird"

Later that night I laid awake in my bed. I've been struggling with reality. Can I really let people die when I have the ability to stop it. If I make a mistake I could not only kill the person I'm trying to protect but even kill the assailant. Yes they're terrible people but they could still have kids at home. For all I know they could be normal people when they aren't terrorizing people. I would never want what happened to me to happen to anyone else. Those kids would have no idea that there parents were evil they would only see them as there caregiver their life.

knock* *knock*

I jump up and turn towards my window and see a man outside. To my surprise it was Oliver Queen not in costume. I got up from my bed and open my window.

"Hey kid, how's your friend doing?" Oliver asked with a worried look in his face.

"Her name's Alicia, Ollie. She's fine a little shook but fine." Where were you? Why did I have to react? Were you watching me!?" I started to get really angry.

"I was responding to an alert at the police station. I saw you with your friends and decided to see what you would do. Again I'm sorry for your friend I did not expect him to actually hurt her"

"He was covered in blood Ollie! She could've died!" I yelled as I slammed myself back in to my bed.

"How else am I supposed to see if you're ready!? Oliver bolted back.

"Who said I wanted to be like you!?" I spat out.

"Well actually you did. Today. You made the choice to step up to save your friend. You could've called for back up. You still have the watch on your wrist." Oliver explained.

You see before I left for California Oliver gave me a watch. In reality it was a beacon. One touch and a member of the league would be there ready to help. You see Oliver knew my parents murderer was still out there and he didn't want me to feel like I was alone.

I look down at my wrist and start to fiddle with the watch. I began to wonder did I forget it was there or did I actively ignore it.

"I can see you questioning yourself" Oliver said. "Thing is I know you didn't forget about it. You chose to attempt to save her yourself. You didn't even hesitate. That's why you are a hero even if you don't want to be."


	4. Fighting Fate 3

Here I am sitting in my desk waiting for my English class to start. It's been a couple days now since I used my powers. I've gotten no sleep. I remember Oliver handing me a mask saying "for when you decide to step up. Wouldn't want you looking like a dork would we." It's currently sitting in my purse underneath all the make up and other miscellaneous stuff.

Just before the bell rings everyone floods in the doors and takes there seat. Alicia was finally out of the hospital and walked through the door. Suddenly the silence broke and everyone began to whisper to each other.

"How'd she survive?" A boy asked talking to his friends.

"I heard someone weird showed up. Like someone who didn't know what they were doing" one of the girls in the back was saying.

To my left a I heard a boy say, "why couldn't he just kill her. She's such a bitch anyway."

"That's enough!" Mrs Witherspoon shouted. "Leave the poor girl alone. She's been through enough lately"

When everyone was chattering Alicia just stood still in the doorway and looked down. Once the chatter stopped she walked and sat to the left of me. She looked very distraught. Her eyes were red and puffy and her eyeliner looked messy. I could tell she had been crying recently. When she looked at me I could see her left side of her face was slightly red. I began to worry.

You see Alecia's dad died when she was eight. He was driving home one night in a heavy rainstorm. He was driving by the Painted Canyon and a drunk driver from oncoming traffic came in to his lane. He tried to stop and get out of the way but the roads were extremely slick. Ended up being tee-boned by the drunk driver and he spun out of control. His car plunged in to the canyon. Not even a year later her mom started having drug problems to attempt to cope with her husbands passing. With time she met man a man who was addicted to his own supply and eventually married him. Now he torments her to no end.

I write a note and hand it to her.

"Don't tell me he hit you again"

She reads it and whispers to me, "I don't want to talk about it"

I whisper to her "well if you ever need to I'll be here"

Alicia and I remain silent throughout the rest of the period. We do our normal student things. Ya know pretend to take notes, do in class assignments, and attempt to not fall asleep. Just your usual Monday in high school. Well at least so I thought.

The bell finally rang and we all got up. And started to head for the door. Alicia ran up to be and gave me the a huge hug.

"I can never thank you enough for being an awesome friend chica". She said with a tear dripping down her face.

"I mean I wouldn't be human if I didn't care right?" I say struggling to breathe. "As much as I love loosing air I kind a need to get to my next class. I'll talk to you later"

Alicia releases me from her death grip says "see ya" and walks out the door.

Man she's such a strange chick but I'm glad she's my friend.

I walk in to my next class to see Rory talking to a girl I haven't met yet. She was slightly overweight with black hair and glasses. Behind her glasses were a pair of deep hazel eyes. Her face was covered in freckles like it were stars in the night sky. Rory looked really uncomfortable. Like he was trying to get out of whatever conversation they were having. He nervously starts looking around and sees me.

"Oh hey aria!" He yells at me. He then turns to the girl and says. "sorry I gotta go." He then grabs his backpack and runs to me.

"Sorry about that. She was trying to get my number. She is most definitely not my type." He says with a spurt of confidence.

Rory was wearing a black tee shirt with the flash logo centered on it. He was wearing camouflage patterned shorts. He looked absolutely absurd and I loved him for it. Though obviously I had to give him shit for it.

"You do realize your clothing choice looks atrocious right?" I say holding back a giggle.

"Oh who cares, I'm not trying impress anyone anyway." He bolted back.

We continued to chatter until class started. We all took our seats as the bell rang and got ready for another boring lecture. To our surprise the teacher never showed up. About half an hour passes with no one coming in to the classroom. We all had been messing around for a while now we'll until the intercom turned on.

"Hello this is your principle," says a distorted male voice coming from the speakers. "There appears to be a situation going on outside and I need you all to stay in your classrooms until the problem resolves."

I could here a quiver in his voice like something was wrong. It's pretty strange that our teacher goes missing then we get a disturbing voice announcement from our principle. I need to check this out. I don't want anyone to get hurt.

I grab my purse and bolt out the door. Rory goes to the doorway and yells, "Aria! What are you doing? The principle said to stay put!"

I turn around and shout "feminine problems!" Then continue towards the bathroom.

I bolt in to a stall and pull out my mask. It was just a small mask made to only cover the eyes. Basically what the green arrow wore. Instead of being cut open slots as eyeholes there was glass. When I put it on my right eye could see normally but my left was showing heat vision. I quickly take of my sweatshirt and leave it in the stall. I grab my purse and put it on the counter and dart out the entrance way.


	5. Fighting Fate Finale

As I run down the hallway I hear a commotion going on in the principals office. I stealth-fully walk towards the principals door which was off of its hinges and peeked around the corner.

"What do you want!? Why are you attacking my school!?" The principal questioned. The principal was tied down to a chair in the corner. He was an older man though his hair was still brown. His hairline was receding but he still had a good amount of hair. He principal was a bigger man but more of a hefty kind of way. In front of him stood a big dark skinned man. I couldn't get a good look at him but I could tell he was bald and was wearing tactical gear.

"My boss has intel that a particular student of yours is a girl he's been looking for ya dig?" "I need the girl with the last name greenwood."

"I don't have any students here with that name. Please just leave us alone." The principal pleaded.

"Well you are of no use. Might as well Ice ya." The man pulled out a pistol and pointed it towards the principals skull. "Any last words?"

"Can I say something"? I say as I form a whip and grab the mans arm.

"Who's there! Who turned the lights out!" The big man shouted.

I begin to think to myself. "Okay this guy is way bigger than me so I can't face him head on. I need to think of a way to take him down. I could try and drop a giant object on top of him, but I don't know how strong he is. I could get him to charge me so I can use his mass against him, but I don't think that'll knock him out. I need to think of some…..

"Found ya!"

The managed to find me and put a hand on me. This is not good. Right then I panicked and I formed light around my body.

squirt* I heard what sounded like water fall on to the floor.

The man then screamed in pain. "What the fuck did you do to me!?"

I still felt something on my shoulder. I turned to look at it and resisted the urge to vomit. The mans hand was still there but it was completely severed. Blood was everywhere. While the man was curling over in pain I took my opportunity strike. I formed a bat and smashed his head with it. The man crumbled down and passed out.

I look over to the principal. He's bruised and battered but I think he'll be alright. I cut his ties and look for the intercom. When I press he button I form a light mask over my mouth to distort my voice. Not manny people know me too well but I can never be to careful.

"Hello my name is Light-Speed. I am here to help. I need everyone to remain calm and collected. Panic will fuel whoever is attacking the school. Please lock your doors and treat this as a normal lockdown drill. The police are already on there way."

I then release the button and run out the room.

-Okay I know that Light-Speed sounded really lame but it's all I could think of. I never really thought I would take up to protecting people so ergo improvised name-

The hallway was silent. You could practically see the tumble weeds. As I walked down the hall I could see the students and faculty listened to my announcement. Lucky me I guess. Anyway I've been walking towards the roof access.

As I opened the hatch I could feel the cold rain against my face. Considering it was clear skies just an hour ago this was very odd. As I climb out of the hatch I look around at the sky. The rain is only over the school. In the distance I could see police coming towards the school.

BOOM*

A large thundering sound comes from the clouds. The sound was emitted from the clouds above. As I look towards the clouds I see a figure hurtling down from the clouds. The figure plunged in to fountain in the school courtyard.

As the dust settled the cops made it to the courtyard ready to apprehend the man the was climbing out of the crater.

"It appears that I'm late to the party," says the man as he gets to the pavement. "I may need to learn how to set an alarm."

"Put you hands above your head and don't make any movements," shouted a police officer with his gun pointed and ready.

"Get down," I shout as a giant ball of water crashes again the cops.

I form a grapple and slide down to the water wizard. I do so ready to kick him as I get there, but I go right through him and he turns to water. I hit the ground and tumble.

"What the hell is this," I questioned.

"It sounds like you have never seen super powers before child," The man said as he reformed with a grin on his face. "I don't know who you are but I advise you stay out of my way. I got a target to find."

"What could this girl have done to get a freak like you to attack her," I shout angrily.

"Well not that it matters to you. I have no care about this girl. Wish I could say the same about my boss. This Olivia girl had seriously wronged my boss. It appears she gave my boss the wrong name. Luckily I did my research. Now if you don't mind I'll be on my way."

"I can not let you do that," I say with conviction. I may be new here but I have made friends here. Bonds stronger than I have every had. As long I have these bonds I will not let anything endanger them. This school is under my protection! This FUCKING city is under my protection!"

With that final word a draw a light arrow and shoot it at the mans heart. The man became water as the arrow flew through him. The man smiles and begins to laugh.

"Fine I'll just come back later," he says still with a giant grin across his face. "Just a fair warning next time I'll actually fight you. You better be ready, because I won't be easy on you. You're not within my orders to kill so next time you will be. Good bye."

As the man finishes his sentence he turns to water and falls in to a puddle on the ground. The rain subdued and with it so did the storm clouds. I flop down and pass out.


	6. The Starting Line 1

-Okay I never expected that I would be anything like the man that raised me. Not saying he's a bad guy. Just not what I expected to be when I grew up. I only wanted to be an average girl that could make friends. The fact of the matter is there are bad guys everywhere and like the arrow I appear to attract it.-

In a hospital in the middle of the night. I laid totally passed out in one of the hospital beds. I was without my mask and in the normal hospital get up. In the corner of the room sat one of my close friends Alicia. She was staring down at her phone typing away. My eyes began to open and blink at a constant pace. I began to wonder where I was and how I got here. I looked around and saw alicia in the corner.

"When did I get here," I asked.

"Oh my gawd girl! You almost gave me a heart attack," she squealed.

"What happened," I asked trying to understand what's going on.

"Well when the ambulances arrived we were released from our classes. As we were leaving the school I saw you being carried by a man in green. Specifically the **_GREEN ARROW._** "

-Well that explains why I don't have a mask and why she has no idea who I really am-

"What the hell were you doing out there girl," Alicia yelled. "You could've died chica.

"I had to leave school for a doctor appointment," I began to say. "I just came back at a really bad time."

"Well thank God the Green Arrow showed up when he did or you could've died," Alicia said with a worried expression. "I don't know what I would've done."

-If she only knew how much danger I was really in. How much danger we all were in-

Hours pass and I finally reach my house. The hospital released me really quickly I only had a couple bruises. Definitely not something worth an over night stay. They did say I was dehydrated but that's about it. I wonder if that water guy sucked the life out of me. I finally get home and walk through the giant front doors.

-Oh I might've forgotten to mention I am kinda sorta rich and live in a mansion-

On my dining room table sits a vase full of daisies. With it a note.

~Hey Aria heard about your debut. So I brought you some flowers. Hopefully daisies fit your new "style." Anyways this may not be the only gift I have for you. Check the basement. Love Ollie. PS: Don't say I never gave you anything~

I open my basement door and start to walk down the stairs. The light flickers on with a slight hum. The bottom of the steps open up to a giant room. In the center of the room sat a glass case. In it a mannequin. A hooded Kevlar jacket with a mask. The jacket graded from black to white from bottom to top. The mask did the same from left to right. The leggings were also made of Kevlar but were full black. With it sat a white bow but now arrows in sight. Next to the case sat a group of computer monitors. They appeared to be tracking every 911 alert within the city. It analyzed everyone and put a threat level to each. Another not sat on the desk.

~Okay I might be wasting a little bit of paper but I think saying this is more important than a tiny piece of tree. Don't under any circumstance take on someone out of your league. I have had too many people close to me die and I will not let it happen to you~

-Well that wasn't personal at all-

I grab the note and store it away in the desk it was sitting on.

The next day I arrived at the school. There were a lot of construction equipment littered across the courtyard. Policemen were at every door. Some at the gates at the entrance. It appears the city knows that the school is in danger. That this wasn't just a fluke.

"Hey Aria," yelled a waiving an enthusiastic Rory. Rory runs up to me. -Well at least his kind of running-

He was wearing another black shirt with camo pants. On his shirt laid a lantern ring.

"I never saw you come back yesterday. I was completely worried," he said with a gracious look on his face.

"Yeah I had to leave for a sec. My mom said I needed to come home for a sec. I came back to that water freak terrorizing the police," I said trying to sound like normal. I had a giant fake smile on my face. If this kid knew any better he would've caught me red handed right there.

School dragged on. I sat there waiting for the darkness to come again. It never did I realized it halfway through the school day. In response I decide to play hooky and search for clues, not as Aria but as Light-Speed.

-I think it's time to ask for a small amount of assistance-


	7. The Starting Line 2

Today is the day where the little world that I have made begins to fall apart. As I sit here in shock to what I just received from the System Oliver gave me. I spent the last two days digging up on the students trying to find who this guys is after. Texting my friends for information on people in the school never letting them know who I was looking for. Well my results came in with them my notion of disbelief. On my computer monitor was a picture of someone I go to school with. Someone I see on a regular basis.

-Okay I know I have a while until this crazy guys is coming. When he does I need to be ready. Tonight I go out. Protecting this city is something I promised to do.-

My phone buzzes next to me. On it withheld what appeared to be hundreds of texts from alicia. The most recent one saying, "we need to talk."

I stuff my suit in to my bag and ride my my white motorbike and roll out.

I pull up to her apartment complex. To my shock the building her apartment's in is on fire. I break in to a supply closet and suit up.

A loud scream comes from the first floor apartment. It's not Alicia's apartment but I can't let someone die when I still can do something about it. I burst down the door and see a woman pinned underneath a support beam. While coughing I lift the beam with two light pillars. I pull the girl out and carry her outside.

"I need you to call 911," I say to her. "I have more people to save"

I run to the second floor and burst down the next door. I search and only see a child in there. The little girl had passed out and was covered in charcoal. I form a slide out of light from the balcony to the first victim.

"Keep an eye on her," I yell down.

I get to the final floor and the location of Alicia's apartment. It's in the biggest blaze out of all of them. The walls were blackened and smoldering as with the door.

-there's no way I can get in there without some kind of protection-

I cover my hand it light matter and shove my hand in the fire. After a short moment I pull my hand back and it was completely fine. That's when I knew what to do. I surround myself with the light energy and walk through the door.

-with all this fire in here it's impossible to see, even with my thermal tech. Luckily I can hear.-

Alicia," I began to shout.

-I can't here anything over the roaring flames. I need to think of something-

I realized that fire needs Oxygen to survive. I quickly expand my sours to cover the whole room and soon the whole apartment. I take a deep breath before the oxygen was burnt out of the room. The flames disperse but I can't let the field down or it'll erupt in to flames again. So holding my breath is all I can do. I quickly look around the apartment. Every room was empty full of ash. As I began to run out of breath I opened the bathroom door and saw Alicia come coughing and covered in soot. I grab her and run out the door.

BOOM!*

With explosion from the apartment cane me sliding down a light zip line. I put Alicia down on the ground and try to wake her up. She was covered in burns and soot. She was barely breathing and most of her breaths were responded by violent coughing. I pick her back up and run her to the ambulance that had just shown up.

-masking my voice- "she needs help," I yell at the paramedics. "Everyone is safe but we need to go!"

I climb in to the ambulance and put her down on the stretcher.

10 minutes pass and we make it to the hospital. They pull her out and take her to the emergency room. I follow as far as I could before I was told to stay back. I'm just left here thinking how could this happen to her twice. If I wasn't so distracted she wouldn't have been in this mess. I didn't see that message for an hour. I was so fixated on finding that person and keeping them safe that I didn't realize that my friend was the one in danger.

A few hours have passed and a nurse comes out to greet me. I shoot up from my seat once I see her. "She's stable," she said. "You can see her if you want. She is awake."

I thank her and follow her to her room.

"You know we can't keep running in to each other like this," Alicia said with a weak, frail voice.

I could tell that she was trying to smile but I think she was in too much pain. Her right eye was forced shut due to a deep cut down from her eye brow to her cheekbone. She had some gnarly burns on her right arm but they were wrapped in gauze. She was covered in bruises all over as well.

"What even happened," I began to inquire.

"My dad owes money to some very nasty people," she began to explain. "Luckily, well I guess luckily, he wasn't home. When I answered the door they attempted to burst in but the door was still latched. They then kicked my door until the latch fell out of the wall saying something about a girl named Greenwood. I continued to beg them to leave but they wouldn't. They began to beat me. After the harsh beating they threw me in the tub and set the house on fire. I tried to get out but I barely made it anywhere before I a passed out.

As she said the name Greenwood I became wide eyed and astonished.

-Was my friend really in the center of this-


End file.
